John Nelson

Conductor John Nelson was noted as a specialist in choral-orchestral music, especially the works of Berlioz. In 1972, Nelson conducted Bizet's Carmen at the New York City Opera and later conducted Britten's Owen Wingrave at the Santa Fe Opera in the work's U.S. premiere. In 1976, Nelson became the conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony. He programmed new music by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Charles Martin Loeffler, improved the group's sound, transformed it into a 52-week-a-year ensemble, restarted its recording career, and moved it into the Circle Theater in downtown Indianapolis. In 2022, Nelson issued a recording of Berlioz's song cycle Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7, and the viola concerto Harold en Italie, Op. 16. By that time, his recording catalog comprised more than 30 items. Nelson died in Chicago on March 31, 2025; he was 83 years of age.